


Sight and Other Altered States

by DontStopHerNow



Series: Summer of Strings [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Ron is trying to be a better person, Seer Luna Lovegood, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24702691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DontStopHerNow/pseuds/DontStopHerNow
Summary: Ron is tired of waiting for anyone to pay attention to him. Bill gives him some advice on talking to girls, but before he can put it into action, Luna does it for him.Just a little fluff for how Ron and Luna got together during the Summer of Strings.
Relationships: Luna Lovegood/Ron Weasley
Series: Summer of Strings [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683559
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

June 13, 1998

The hard line between Ron Weasley and sleep had been drawn the night of Bill and Fleur’s wedding. It was never too hard to _fall_ asleep, but once asleep, Ron dreams seemed to run wild, taking him on terrible journeys into his own mind.

Ron had not been able to stomach Dreamless Sleep. He felt sort of guilty at the thought of using it. He deserved his dreams, after everything he put his mum and dad through, all the tears and worry he caused them. Plus, with the Dreamless Sleep, he would have to trust that nothing would happen to him in the night. 

No, he would rather have the dreams. As bad as they were, he would rather relive the past year on a loop in his head than let anything happen without him, ever again.

The night before they started rebuilding Gryffindor Tower had been no exception. In Ron’s dream, of course He-Who-Etceteraed was there, and Harry and Hermione were there. He tried to get to them, but he could not, and of course, every good idea he had broke apart when he tried to do it. He could see them all, Harry dead and Hermione screaming, and What’s-His-Snake laughing that awful way. 

Ron had awoken with a scream of “NO!!!” but found Harry had done an excellent Silencio around them both before passing out from his Dreamless Sleep.

After cereal and juice in the morning, Ron was all set to do his work on a broom all day. He followed Flitwick’s conducting, and slowly Gryffindor Tower rose into the sky again. At lunch with Harry and Hermione, Luna joined them, talking about the Dawn Frogs in the pond beside her new house. Ron had never heard of Dawn Frogs, but they sounded pretty real, for something Luna was talking about. 

When had Luna gotten so pretty? She was still so weird, but that seemed less annoying than it used to. Her hair was swept to the side in a braid or something and the tail of the braid seemed to point down into her shirt. Yeah, no, Luna had gotten really hot at some point.

Ron became aware that Luna was smiling at him. How long had he been staring?

That night, as the weekend party geared up, Ron pulled Bill into the corner by the door. “Can I ask you a question?”

Bill’s eyebrow raised. “When can’t you ask me a question?”

Ron leaned back against the wall. “How do I do what you did with Fleur?”

Bill’s eyes squinted in confusion. “You mean, how did I, Bill Weasley, do it, or how did I do it with Fleur, or how did I do IT?”

Ron frowned. “How do I get a girl like Fleur to like me?”

Bill took a pull off his butterbeer. “Be nice to her? Don’t be an arsehole? Pay attention when she talks, and make sure she IS talking, and that she wants to talk to you? How did you get that girl year before last?”

He felt like his stomach was about to produce slugs again. “She sort of threw herself at me from Quidditch.”

Bill shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, I guess that’ll do it. What about Hermione?”

Ron’s mouth was dry, and he took a pull from his own butterbeer. “I don’t know. Nothing really happened. I think she’s avoiding me or something.”

A thoughtful look crossed Bill’s face. “Okay, here’s my best advice, should work for any girl. Talk to her like she’s a person, and enjoy her company. At a lull in conversation, ask if she wants to take a walk outside. If she turns you down, move on. If she doesn’t turn you down, talk to her like she’s a person and enjoy her company while you walk. At a lull in conversation, look at her in the eyes. If she wants to kiss you, she’ll do it, or you’ll know she wants you to do it, or you’ll ask her if you can. If she doesn’t want to kiss you, walk her back to the castle, talking to her like she’s a person, and enjoy her company, then move on.”

Ron was concentrating very hard on Bill’s instructions. “Okay, and that’s how you got together with Fleur?”

Bill shook his head. “No, that’s how I snogged Jill Pole seventh year. Fleur hit on ME, if you’ll recall. I do recommend letting the woman do the chasing part, though, if you can possibly help it. Much easier to read signals when they’re getting thrown at you, bodily.” His eyes darted to Fleur’s across the room as she took a long, long pull from her butterbeer bottle. “Much easier.”

Ron’s eyebrows knitted together. It had been so bloody difficult to figure out how to ignore Fleur’s veela powers, and this show of _signals_ was testing him again. “Yeah, thanks, Bill.”

Bill’s eyes were still trained on Fleur, as hers were on him. “Yeah, I’m feeling a bit tired. I think I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Fleur had gotten up from the couch she was sharing with Harry and Ginny. She took Bill’s hand and smiled at Ron with a “Goodnight, Ron. See you tomorrow…”

The couple disappeared out the door, leaving Ron alone in the corner. That had certainly escalated quickly.

He surveyed the room. Seamus was playing chess against Percy, who looked like he was deep into his cups already. Harry and Ginny were talking, looking at each other with that look that meant they were about to disappear. Hermione was playing some card game with Neville and Luna. 

As Ron got into a conversation with Dean about the rules of muggle football, Luna came up and stood beside them, smiling, listening, and asking questions when had them. At a lull in the conversation, Luna smiled at Ron.

“Ron Weasley, would you like to take a walk with me?”

Ron’s face screwed up in confusion. Had she overheard Bill’s advice to him? “Err, yeah.”

Dean’s eyebrow arched, a smirk twitching at his mouth. “I’m good in here.”

Luna smiled at Dean and disappeared out the door, Ron following in her wake.

In the evening air, Luna seemed to be leading them somewhere specific. Ron had no idea what to say.

“Ron, you know quite a lot about the Chudley Cannons, don’t you?”

Didn’t he?! “Yeah! Do you want to know about the past few seasons, or further back?”

“Surprise me.”

So, Ron told her about all of the lineups he could remember and their relative strengths and weaknesses. Yes, he could admit they had weaknesses, just not to anyone who supported one of their rivals. Luna asked him questions and the conversation never seemed to lull until he got to the 1997 season. 

“Yeah, they had to suspend the season, cause of, you know, No-Nose.”

Luna said nothing. They had come to sit beside the lake, their feet dipping into the water, shoes and socks discarded behind them. Ron looked at her.

She was looking in his eyes. Merlin and Morgana, she was so pretty. Her hair had come out of its braid and flowed down over her shoulders, covering the straps of her top, so it sort of looked like her top was being held up by the strength of her breasts. And, oh, yes, Luna seemed to have breasts, beautiful and soft-looking, that glowed in the same pale light as her face did.

She was smiling and looking in his eyes, but also looking at his mouth. Did she want to kiss him? She wanted to kiss him. Ron leaned forward and Luna leaned forward and they met, lips touching softly.

It was nothing like it had been with Lavender or Hermione. Lavender’s kisses had been wet and sloppy, and that one with Hermione had been a lot of teeth clacking.

With Luna, there was gentleness. She let out a soft sigh against his mouth and her hand moved to the back of his head.

The kisses became more urgent on both sides and Ron quickly transfigured, uh... um... his trousers! into a blanket to lay on the grass.

They kept going and going. Ron had not exactly been prepared for his first time tonight, but he was totally enchanted by Luna. The little breathy noises she made, the feel of her body against his, the smell and taste of her, and the desire he felt from her, all of it drove him mad with wanting.

She wanted him. _Him_ , Ron Weasley. She moaned his name as he entered her and clutched his shoulders, face screwed up in ecstasy. 

He knew he would not last long, and he did not. But, he had done his work to help her come, and he went back to work after his own peak, bringing her off once more.

She trembled slightly and pulled her top back on. 

“Are you okay, Luna? Was that okay?” Ron reached his hand over to run it down her arm.

She looked into his eyes, still shaking, and as she looked at him, she blinked and smiled again, that peaceful smile she always had. She reached and touched his forehead, running her fingers down the side of his face, resting them on his lips.

She stopped shaking. “Yes, I’m good. That was lovely.”

She kissed him again. Again and again and again.

Ron was drunk on her by the time they fell asleep on that transfigured blanket under the stars. He slept all the way through the night for the first time in weeks, despite being out in the open by the lake.

That line between Ron and sleep had finally been painted over.


	2. Chapter 2

July 12, 1998

The worst case scenario always seemed to occur to Ron Weasley whenever he learned something new about his friends. And, that worst case scenario always seemed to come true. It made Ron not want to rock the boat, nor let himself hope for anything specific, lest someone tell him something and his hope turned out to be the worst case scenario.

Hermione started shagging Neville, and Ron thought it was the end of anything between him and Hermione, and yeah, that was true.

Harry got them both into the Auror training program and Ron knew it would change everything between the two of them and Hermione, and then that seemed to be why she stormed off that Saturday.

Neville started being nice to Malfoy and Ron thought he must fancy the blond arsehole. Yup, that was happening by the middle of the next month.

Oh, Ginny found a bunch of their fate strings tangled in piles on the seventh floor? Bloody great, bet that would be a new project to put them all in danger, eh?

So, when Luna sat him down in their tent one night with a serious look on her face, Ron’s stomach was suddenly in knots with anticipation. Luna never looked serious, just sweet and scattered. It was something he enjoyed about being with her.

Ron took her hand, still so pale this summer, compared to the deeply freckled tan he had finally managed after two sunburns. Usually she just started talking when she had something to say, but she looked like she might cry if she tried to speak.

“Lulu, what’s wrong?”

Her eyes closed and she took a breath before opening them again. They glistened with unspent tears. When her voice escaped, it shook with those same unspent tears. “There are many pieces inside me. I can’t keep them straight, Ron…”

Ron frowned. This seemed like an excellent chance to be a better person to Luna than he could be to Hermione. “Like what? I’m pretty good at keeping things straight.” He would just have to deal with the worst cases that came up, as they came up. Luna needed him.

Her eyes closed again and she leaned into him. A minute later, she nodded. “I’m going to sever my soul string near the end of summer. I’m making sure my mate will want to sever, and be happy without me. To keep everyone safe, I have to do many things that are making everyone frustrated and angry. I can’t tell anyone involved what I’m doing, or events will change from the knowledge.”

Ron waited for the worst case to occur to him. It never happened. The usual sinking feeling soared instead, giving him a pleasantly light-headed sensation like he had taken a shot of firewhiskey. He grasped at anything he could say. There was something about the severing thingie that probably could make more sense. “Do you want to cut that bond?”

Luna frowned and closed her eyes. “Yes, we’ll be unhappy if we’re together. He’ll hate me for knowing things, as he already dreads my presence for trying to push him toward happiness.”

That soaring feeling took him again. It was like he was a messenger owl with no message, just free to fly up and up. This feeling nearly made him feel drunk, but awake. He grasped at any useful words he could find. “If he wants to be happy, he’ll stop hating you and be happy, right? He’ll just be happy some day, yeah?”

Luna looked up at him. “Yes, some day.”

Words, words, useful ones… “They all want to stay safe, they’ll do what you say, and stop feeling so angry eventually.”

She smiled. “Yes, eventually.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Ron holding Luna, rubbing her arm, her hip, and she leaned further into him, pulling his head down to hers. Kissing led to sex, Ron’s favorite altered state, the one that required no words, just action. The sweet silence of his body with hers.

Afterward, Luna’s eyes looked clearer again and she laid on his chest staring at him, chin on her forearms.

She told him everything that night. Her whole plan, laid out for Ron’s perusal. It lit Ron’s brain on fire in its complexity. Every question of his led to Luna describing a nightmare where someone died, or a terrible maiming, or failure, or several of those things at once. His head swam with the possibilities.

And, with none of her narrative did Ron ever get that worst-case feeling, only the new soaring feeling.

It had to be love. He was falling in love with Luna.

Ever since that first night, it had felt like he was just following her lead. It was easy. She had given him a way out of living with fucking Malfoy this summer, and the nightmares were much easier to handle with Luna’s soothing words to bring him back to reality.

It made sense that he loved her. She was always there at the right moment, probably from all this stuff she was telling him now.

He should say it. Have the emotional capacity of like a cup and a half, maybe?

Luna reached forward and put her fingers over his mouth. “No, Ron Weasley.” Merlin, he loved when she called him by his full name. “You don’t love me. Not yet.” Her eyes closed for a moment, then blinked open again. “You’re not meant for me. Your future is for another. You were for Lavender Brown, before...”

Ron tensed. Lavender? Lavender was dead now…

“She was on the other end of your string.” Tears fell from her eyes onto his bare chest. “I’m sorry, Ron Weasley. Your tangles were never resolved before…”

Ron shook his head. “No… but… it was supposed to be Hermione…”

Luna shook her head. “You know it wasn’t.” Her fingers smoothed his brow as he felt hot tears escape his eyes.

He pulled away. This was worse than he could have imagined. He thought he was still to meet her, whoever she was. He had no idea that as he learned the string charm, he was sitting in the same room as the girl on the other end of his string.

His voice came out a wail as he sat up in bed and searched for his pants. “But, she was my first kiss! We did so many things! How was it not a fulfilled bond!? I never felt that thing you’re supposed to feel!”

Luna’s arms came around his middle. “You both had tangles that kept you apart. It was both of you.”

Ron pulled on his pants, standing up and pulling away from Luna again. “Fucking what was it, then? What was so important that I couldn’t have that?! Before she fucking died!?” He turned to look at the girl in his bed.

Luna frowned, her hair was a bushy mess, one radish was missing, the sheet pulled up around her breasts as she stared at nothing on the wall across from the bed. Then, her eyes rolled back into her head and her voice came out all weird. “Ronald Weasley, your purpose was always to help your friends. Your sight was always set on the necessity of living, the destruction of evil, the guts of forward momentum. Your future is not set. You will love again, your string can find another’s.”

She blinked and a single tear fell down her cheek, glistening like a rainbow in mist.

“Gor blimey, Luna. What was that?” Ron sat heavily on the bed, facing her.

She reached for her shorts and pulled a handkerchief from the pocket, dabbing the tear from her cheek. “The Tear of Althini.”

Ron shook his head. “But, that’s only for the really powerful true seers. I thought the Tear hurts, though?”

She nodded. “It’s already a burden, and I don’t even have a fulfilled bond. It will be so much worse if it is fulfilled.”

He ran his hand through his hair. “Why do it for me, then?”

She smiled softly, running her fingers across his forehead again, pushing the fringe up into his hairline. “You deserve answers just as your friends do, Ron Weasley. You deserve peace as everyone else does, this summer. You deserve to know the shape of the unknown past, and the turns of your future path.”

“But, it hurts you to do it! I don’t want you to hurt yourself for me!”

She shook her head and caressed his cheek. “I will do as I wish, Ron Weasley. I want you to be happy after this, and knowing this truth will help you.” She smiled that same soft smile again.

Ron had that odd sensation of soaring again. He shook his head, not wanting to get overwhelmed again. “Promise me you’ll never do that for me again, Lulu. I’ll figure things out myself, and it’ll be fine. Please?”

Her eyes closed again and she nodded. When they opened again, Ron felt like her eyes were trying to devour him, like that first night together. She reached for him, pulling him to her, kissing him, touching him, putting his hands where she wanted them.

He worshipped her body, giving her everything he had, giving her as much pleasure as he could, however she wanted. He had to make up for the Tear she had shed for him.

They stayed up late into the night, talking through her plan again and again. She seemed more at ease than he had seen her all summer.

Ron let himself get drunk on these feelings, let himself fall into whatever this could be, let himself hope, for Luna.


End file.
